For those of us who raced in Portugal one month ago this race is the finale of our European spring campaign. After beginning on a good note, and pushing through bad luck in the next six races, we look to end back on top. Liege U23 is the espoir version of a prestigious spring classic in the hills of the Ardennes. Finally, a race where it’s the skinny guys who are most intimidating. Nearly two hundred riders swarmed out of Bastogne heading to the finish in Liege 185 km away. Everyone knows to be at the front, and on narrow pot hole and manure coated roads, curb hopping, corner cutting, shoulder boxing, and nearly anything else is permissible if you can gain a few places. On the first climb, we found ourselves near the back and had to power to the front on the sandy shoulder, nearly missing a major split in the pack. Breaks went and came back. Our director told us that the race typically begins on the climb 80 km in, so I moved to the front and followed moves. Each climb, the lead group whittled down, but 100 km in we still had 4 in the lead group of around 50.
Without much course knowledge, we took the length and grade of the climbs as they came. La Redoute, a 2 km paved wall, came as a shock. We had about 40 km to go, and three riders were trying to hold off the pack. Team Lotto Devo pulled them into sight just before a series of steep climbs. I knew which riders to watch, and followed their attacks. It was fun to be racing on a selective course with good legs. I tried again and again, but it seemed futile. After gapping the field I would turn each time to see a major response from the pack. Then two groups of two riders, simply rolled off and no one reacted. They made it to the leaders. With 7 riders off the front, and 35 still in the front group, I started thinking about the finish hoping the break would come back. I quit attacking myself and started covering moves with Boz. The pace was high enough on the steep and narrow roads to split our group down to 25. With 2 km to go, a Norwegian attacked. I jumped on his wheel. We got a gap, so I sprinted around him. The finish was on a velodrome, and I was holding off the chase head down. I was finally gonna score a top ten. The finish was a few yards ahead of me when the sprinting pack overcame me. So close.
At the end of the day:
Me 19th
Boz 28th
Nate 42nd
Conor 48th
Barker 80th
Also, In the flatlands of Holland Gavin Mannion finished 15th in the ZLM nations cup with Cole House 20th.